Don T's Story
I am a 58-yr-old male. In the past yr. or so, I noticed that I was "slowed down" and my dr. diagnosed depression. In Jan. 2000, I was put on citalopram (Celexa) and took the 1st and only dose at bedtime as instructed and went to sleep. I awoke in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and urinate as I usu. do, and a few minutes after returning to bed, I began to feel acutely and extremely ill with nausea, dizziness, faintness, sweating, and a sense of impending doom. I had my wife call 911, but by the time the paramedics arrived, I was feeling better and sent them on their way.

About a week after this, I pretty much forgot about this episode, and I told the dr. that I wanted to feel better from the slowed-down feeling I had been having. She prescribed Zoloft. I took one dose and about 3 hrs later I began to feel lightheaded. The dr. said that this was common with this medication and to cut the dose in half, so the next day I took half a tablet. The lightheadedness got worse, so I stopped the Zoloft, expecting the dizziness to clear as it had with the Celexa. Not so! I have been continuously lightheaded ever since!!! (It is now Sept. 2000)

The dizziness that I experience is a lightheaded, woozy sensation that varies in intensity during the course of the day, but has been constantly with me. It is not a spinning type vertigo (I had a 6-week bout of benign positional vertigo 10 yrs ago which resolved spontaneously, so I know what the sensation of spinning is like in vertigo.) It has limited what I have been able to do. I went to a neurologist who could not find any cause for the lightheadedness. He did an MRI, CT scan, carotid artery doppler scan, BAEP (brainstem-auditory evoked potentials), and ENG (electronystagmogram), all of which were negative. He sent me away with his diagnosis of exclusion: panic disorder (although he could not explain to me how panic disorder causes dizziness or how it is that the only time I ever felt panicky in my life was the epside with the Celexa).

Another neurologist I consulted for a 2nd opinion thinks the diagnosis of panic disorder is not applicable, but she can offer no further explanation, either. So I am at a loss as to where to go from here. If anyone has any ideas, please contact me.

Thank you.
Sincerely,
Donald A. Thompson
P.O. Box 98471
Raleigh, NC 27624-8471

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